Eric Mack On-Line

This evening, I met with Marc Orchant via
Skype to talk about geek stuff. (Blogs, Podcasting, RSS, etc.) I
first met Marc through his office
and tablet blogs. Our common interest in using technology to get things
done has brought us together for extended virtual geek meetings more than
once. (I know, pretty sad. A geek party on the phone on a Saturday night.)

Our meeting went something like this: we initiated the meeting in
Skype, then I brought up MindManager - my idea capturing tool of choice
-- and then Marc connected to my PC using Glance. It's not a very good
testimony for tight software integration, but at the same time - unlike
our misfortunes with MSN Messenger - everything worked.

Our conversation quickly shifted from Blogs and Podcasting to MindManager
and how each of us were using it. I shared with Marc some of the things
that I would like to see, add-ins for MindManager that I believe would
add utility to the product. He suggested that I blog about them,
so here are my three wishes:

1. I want to be able to search Mind Maps using X1
I know I'm not the first to suggest this, but I think X1 and MindManager
represent a powerful combination for information management. The people
who use Mind Manager are already into idea capture, knowledge management,
and tracking; it is logical, therefore, that they will want to search what
they have entered into their maps. I should think that MindManager customers
would represent a potential instant customer base for X1 -- especially
since no other product that I'm aware of provides desktop search into MindManager
files. (I don't think this would be too hard to do either; the MindManager
X5 files are all in XML and they already have an awesome viewer.) For the
MindJet marketing team, having a powerful desktop search tool, such as
X1, would certainly raise the level to which people might be willing to
use MM to track their information. I know that for me, one of the negative
aspects of using MM for information management is the limited ability to
search outside of MM. I believe this combination would add significant
value to both products.

2. I would like to use MindManager as a front-end for X1
MindManager has a nifty feature to allow it to pull in an RSS feed. What
if it could import the X1 search results, automatically generating a visual
display of the information on your computer, complete with hypertext links
to content and files. Now that would be really powerful.

3. I "wish" MindManager could read Trackbacks and referrers
OK, I'm not going to push hard for this feature, but I think it would be
neat to be able see a real-time visual map of a particular blog post and
all of the related blog posts that refer to it. Marc described this
as something like fractals for blogs. I like that metaphor. MindManger
already has the ability to pull in an RSS feed and it actually does a respectable
job. I'm sure a clever and talented programmer (hint) could come up with
a way to script what I want to accomplish.

What do you think? Do any of these features sound like useful tools to
you? I'd like to hear from you. I will be sure to pass along your comments
to people I know in the MindManger community. Marc's offered to do the
same for X1. My hope is that if there is sufficient interest in these features
these fine vendors will take notice. (Hint, hint)

Perhaps, by the next time that Marc and I have our next virtual geek call,
I'll have more news to share about my three wishes.